Electric wall-switch.



W. J. NEWTON 61 M. GOLDBERG.

ELECTRIC WALL SWITCH, APPLICATION FILED IuLY 13. 1916..

1,248,384. Patented Nov. 27; 1917.

2 SHEETS-SHEET l.

- feff 1 ZL; @au @Hou/11213 Patented Nov. 27, 1917.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

@f6 ma' W J NEWTON & M GOLDBERG ELECTRIC WALL SWITCH. APPLlcAmN FILEDJULY 13 |916 1,248,384.

WILLIAM zr. NEWTON, or LYNBaoox,

AND MORRIS GOLDIBEBG, OF BROOKLYN, NEW

YORK, ASSIGNORS T0 NEWTON MANUFACTURING COMPANY, OF LYNBROOK, NEW

YORK, A. CORPORATION 0F NEW YORK.

ELECTRIC WALL-SWITCH.

Specication of Letters Patent.

Patented. Nov. 27, 1917.

Application mea July 1s, 1916. serial no. 108,999.

To all lwhom t may concern.'

Be it known that we, WILLIAM J. NEWTON, of Lynbrook, in the county of`Nassau and State of New York, and MORRIS GOLDBERG, of the borouo'h ofBrooklyn, city and State of New Yor have invented certain new and usefulImprovements in Electric Wall- Switches, of which the following is adescription.

Our invention relates to wall switches, and particularly to means forsecuring the customary face-plate to the switch supporting means.

Wall switches now in common use are provided with two push-buttons foropening and closing the switch, which push-buttons project through theface-plate. The faceplate is secured to the bridge-plate or switchsupporting means by means of screws usually placed directly in line withthe pushbuttons. Such a constructionv is incapable of even the slightestadjustment between the switch-supporting means and, on account of thepresence of the screws, is extremely unsightly. It is furthermoredifficult to X it securely in place, since the attaching screws mustnecessarily bev very small, and the thickness of the bridge-plate is soslight that the threads formed therein for the screws are necessarilyvery weak.

An object of our invention is to provide a face-plate supporting meanswhich is adjustable relative to the button, toggle lever, or otherswitch-operating means, and which therefore permits the plate to beproperly set in a vertical or horizontal position, irrespective of theposition of the switch itself.

A further object of our invention is to provide attaching means wherebythe faceplate will be securely attached to the bridgeplate orbridge-supporting means by means of parts of substantial strength sothat they may be set up with considerable force.

A further object of our invention is to dispense with the unsightlinessof the attaching screws and to su stitute therefor attaching means whichare ornamental in appearance.

Our invention may be applied to any of the ordinary types of wallswitches, but find its greatest usefulness in connection with the toggleswitch-described in the Newton Patent No. 1,233,597, and the singlepushbutton Switch Shown in the Newton Patent and the face-plate,

- 4c, 6 and 7, the face-plate No. 1,186,930, since with these types ofswitch the greatest adjustment can be secured and the size of the platemay be reduced to a minlmum.

Referring to the drawings, Figure 1 is a front view of our improvedswitch-plate attaching means applied to the toggle switch shown in theNewton Patent No. 1,233,597.

Fig. 2 is a side elevation thereof, partly in section; 'f

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary view thereof on an enlarged scale showing themeans for securing the face-plate in condition, the concealing shieldbeing removed;

Fig. 4 is a longitudinal sectional view thereof, showing means forsecuring the face-plate in position, including the concealing shield;

Fig. 5 is a perspective view of a wrench which may be employed inassembling our improved device;

Fig. 6 is a fragmentary front view of our improved switch attachingmeans as a plied to the ordinary type `of double push! utton.

switch;

Fig. 7 is a sectional view thereof;

Fig. 8 is a fragmentary sectional view of a modification of our improvedswitch-plate attaching means applied to the single pushbutton switch ofthe Newton Patent No. 1,186,930.

In all of the modifications, the vswitchsupporting means or bridge-plate10 has preferably mounted thereon a screw-threaded collar, such as shownat 11 in Fig. 4. It will be understood that in the case of the twobutton switch, two collars, one for each button, are provided. Theswitch-operating means in each case passes through the collar 11, suchswitch-operating means being the toggle lever 12 shown in Figs. l, 2, 3and 4:, or the push-buttons 12a, shown in Figs. 6, 7

means may, however, be substituted for the' llevers 12 and 12".

In the modification shown in Figs. 1, 2, 3, 13 is provided with anaperture 14 for each collar 11, and 1s adapted to t loosely over thecollar after the switch supporting means 10 have been secured to thewall. To rmly retain the face-plate 13 in position, we employ ascrewthreaded member 15. adapted to cooperate with the screw-threadedcollar 11, as shown v13. We

in Fi 4. This member 15 is preferably provi ed with a nut-head 16, suchas is shown in Fig. 3, to permit the application of a wrench or similardevice thereto. This construction enables the operator .to screw themember 15 tightly against the face-plate preferably provide a wrenchsuch as is shown in Fig. 5 for this purpose. After the face-plate 13 hasbeen firmly secured in the desired position by means of the member 15, ashield provided with an annular recess of suiiicient Size to cover thenut-head 16, such as indicated at 17, is pref-v erably screwed upon thescrew-threaded collar 11,1as is shown in Fig. 4, to conceal the collarand the member 15, and thus add to the appearance of the switch. Thisshield is provided with an aperture 18, through which the lever 12 orother switchfoperating device projects.

The manner -of operation of our invention 4 should be clear from theabove. The switchsupporting means 10 having been secured to the wall,the face-plate 13 1s placed in position with its aperture 14 fittingloosel over the collar 11. It is not essential, 1n the modificati-onsshown in Figs. 1, 2, 3, 4 and 8, that the switch-supporting means 10 beinserted in the wall in an exactly straight position, as is necessarywith the switches now vgenerally in use, since the face-plate 13 can bemoved .angularly, as desired, with respect to the switch-supportingmeans. For this purpose the face-plate is countersunk, as shown at 19,to receive the lugs 20. After the face-plate has been adjusted so thatit assumes the desired position with respect to the wall, irrespectiveof any inclination of the switch-supporting means, the member 15 isscrewed tightly against the faceplate and thus holds the face-platefirmly 1n position. The wrench shown in Fig. 5, which is preferably usedfor this purpose, is so constructed that its greatest diameter is not inexcess of the diameter ofthe shield 17, So that any scratching of theplate, due to the use of the wrench, will be concealed by said shield.After the face-plate 13 and the member 15 have been applied as abovedescribed, the shield 17 is screwed upon the collar 11 to effectivelyconceal the unsightly collar 11 and member 15.

In the modification shown in Fig. 8, we dispense with the nut 15 and usethe shield 17 as the attaching member. In this case, the aperture in theface-plate lits snugly over the collar 11, and is held in place byscrewing down the shield 17 as tightly as possible. For this purpose theshield 17 may be knurled so as to permit easy manipulation with thefingers.

It will be understood that in the modification shown in Figs. 1 to 4,and 6 and 7, the nut 15 may be Hat, z'. e., the portionwhich enters theface-plate 13 may be dispensed with, or the portion which enters thefaceplate 13 may be tapered so as to make a closer contact between theaperture of the face-plate and the nut.

' e therefore do not wish to limit ourselves to the particular formsshown and described, since many changes may be made therein withoutdeparting from the spirlt of our invention.

What we claim is:

l. In a device of the character described, the combination ofswitch-supporting means, a screw threaded collar thereon, a faceplateprovided with an opening adapted to en. circle said collar, ascrew-threaded member extending between the collar and the faceplate andprovided with a nut-head and adapted to coperate with said collar toretain the face-plate in position, and a screwthreaded shield adaptedalso to coperate with said collar to conceal said screwthreaded memberandsaid collar.

2. In a device of the character described, the combination ofswitch-,supporting means, a screw-threaded collar thereon, aswitchoperating device projectin through said collar, a face-plateprovide with an opening adapted to loosely encircle said collar and saiddevice, a screw-threaded member extendin between the collar and thefaceplate ang provided with a nut-head outside the face-plate andadapted to coperate with said collar to retain the face-plate inposition, and a screw-threaded shield adapted to coperate with saidcollar to conceal said screw-threaded member and said collar.

3. In a device of the character described, the combination of switchsupporting means, a screw-threaded collar thereon, switch-operatingmeans projecting through said collar, a face-plate provided with anopening adapted to loosely encircle said collar and said device, ascrew-threaded member provided with a nut-head and adapted to coperatewith said collartoretain the faceplate in position, and a screw-threaded shield adapted to coperate with said collar to conceal saidscrew-threaded member and said collar.

4. In a device of the character described, a bridge, a screw threadedcollar mounted thereon, a face-plate having an aperture of largerdiameter than the collar, a screwthreaded nut adapted to engage thecollar `and project between the collar and the faceplate and ascrew-threaded shield adapted to engage the collar and cover the nut andcol- 5., In a device of the character described, a switch supportingbridge, a screw-threaded collar mounted thereon, switch operating meansprojecting through the collar, a face-plate having an aperture lar rthan the collar, a screw-threaded nut a apted to engage the collar andhaving an annular massa-1 projection the outer diameter of which issubstantially the diameter of the aperture in the face-plate and ascrew-'threaded shield having a recess and adapted to engage the 5collar and conceal the collar and nut.

6. In an apparatus as described, a switch supporting means, al collarattached thereto, an apertured ace plate adapted to loosely encirclesaid collar, a nut having -a shank -'which coperates with said collarand ts 10 snugly in the aperture of said 'face plate and a head thatrmly contacts 'with said face plate, and an apertured shield adapted tocover said nut and said collar and to be rmly held against said 'faceplate.

WlLLlAM J. NEVTON. MRRS GOLDBERG.

